Survivor Series (2016)
Survivor Series (2016) was a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place Sunday on November 20, 2016, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was the thirtieth event under the Survivor Series chronology. This was the first Survivor Series to take place in Canada since the 1997 edition, which became infamous for the Montreal Screwjob. The event was the first Survivor Series event to be four hours in length. Eight matches were contested at the event, including two on the pre-show. The main event marked the in-ring return of Goldberg after twelve years, which saw him defeat Brock Lesnar in 1 minute and 26 seconds. The other five matches on the main card were inter-promotional matches, pitting wrestlers from the Raw brand against wrestlers from the SmackDown brand. Three of those matches were Survivor Series elimination matches; Raw's women and tag teams defeated SmackDown's, but SmackDown's men defeated Raw in the penultimate match. Furthermore, Intercontinental Champion The Miz (from SmackDown) and Cruiserweight Champion The Brian Kendrick (from Raw) retained their titles against challengers from the opposing brand, Raw's Sami Zayn and SmackDown's Kalisto, respectively. Had Kalisto won the Cruiserweight Championship, the entire cruiserweight division would have been transferred to SmackDown. Production Background On the October 11 episode of SmackDown Live, SmackDown's Commissioner Shane McMahon and General Manager Daniel Bryan challenged Raw to three traditional Survivor Series elimination matches – involving each brand's best five male wrestlers, best five female wrestlers, and best five tag teams, respectively. The following week on Monday Night Raw, Raw Commissioner Stephanie McMahon accepted the challenge to determine the better brand; this would be the genesis for the theme of the following years' events. Storylines The card included eight matches, including two on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and SmackDown Live. Over the following weeks, several tag teams were scheduled for the tag team elimination match. For Team SmackDown, Heath Slater and Rhyno were made captain by virtue of being SmackDown Tag Team Champions on the October 25 episode of SmackDown. They then successfully defended their titles (and their spot at Survivor Series) against The Spirit Squad in an impromptu match. The same night, The Hype Bros qualified for the team by defeating The Ascension. American Alpha and The Usos both qualified on the November 1 episode by defeating The Spirit Squad and The Headbangers, respectively. On the November 8 episode, Breezango defeated The Vaudevillains to qualify as the final tag team for Team SmackDown. On the final SmackDown before Survivor Series, Booker T in his King Booker character gave a motivational speech to the team. For Team Raw, Raw Tag Team Champions The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) were revealed as captains on the October 31 episode of Raw. The remaining four spots were filled the following week: Cesaro and Sheamus, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson, Enzo Amore and Big Cass, and The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth). The New Day addressed the teams and then Gallows and Anderson, who were at odds with the rest of Team Raw, defeated Big E and Kingston in a non-title match. Also, R-Truth sold his team's spot to The Shining Stars for a timeshare. The Golden Truth then fought The Shining Stars in a losing effort to get their spot back. The spots for the women's elimination match were also successively filled. On the October 25 episode of SmackDown, Nikki Bella became captain of Team SmackDown by defeating Natalya, who had demanded that position for herself. On the November 1 episode, SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch, the number one contender Alexa Bliss, Carmella, and Naomi were revealed as the remaining team members, with Natalya introduced as the team's coach. On the November 8 episode, the team's unity was strained when Carmella confronted Bella. Natalya, who was involved in a match against Naomi, tried to separate the two, which cost her the match. The same night, Lynch successfully defended her championship against Bliss, albeit in controversial fashion. For Team Raw, Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair (as team captain), Bayley, and Nia Jax were revealed as team members on the October 31 episode of Raw. On the November 7 episode, Alicia Fox and Sasha Banks were introduced as the final members. Earlier, Charlotte had falsely advertised her protégé Dana Brooke as the fifth member, only to be corrected by Michael Cole. Banks, Bayley, and Fox then defeated Charlotte, Jax, and Brooke in a six-woman tag team match when Bayley pinned Charlotte. On the November 14 episode, due to differences between team members, Charlotte and Banks teamed up and defeated Fox and Jax. On the final SmackDown before Survivor Series, Charlotte came down to ringside during a match between Bella and Carmella. Bella then attacked Charlotte, which prompted the rest of Team Raw to attack Bella. Carmella and the rest of Team SmackDown then came to Bella's aid. The two teams brawled with Team SmackDown getting the upper hand. The teams for the men's elimination match began to take shape on the October 31 episode of Raw, when after weeks of lobbying for the position, WWE Universal Champion Kevin Owens and Chris Jericho were made co-captains of Team Raw. General Manager Mick Foley then also added United States Champion Roman Reigns. Braun Strowman qualified by winning a 12-man battle royal. On the November 7 episode, Seth Rollins was revealed as the final member. To settle the team's differences, Stephanie McMahon put all five men in a fatal-five way match, which culminated in Owens accidentally pinning Jericho. On the final Raw before Survivor Series, Stephanie tested the team's unity by having the team of Owens and Reigns and the team of Jericho, Rollins, and Strowman face Cesaro and Sheamus and The New Day, respectively, which both teams won. For Team SmackDown, Daniel Bryan introduced all members on the November 1 episode of SmackDown: WWE World Champion AJ Styles (as captain), Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Bray Wyatt, and Baron Corbin. A week later, Shane McMahon made James Ellsworth the team's mascot. To settle some of the team's differences, Shane also scheduled a six-man tag match pitting The New Wyatt Family (Bray, Orton, and Luke Harper) against Ambrose, Ellsworth, and Corbin. When Corbin refused to take part in the match, he was replaced by Kane, and Corbin instead wrestled Kalisto; during the match, he was kayfabe injured, rendering him unable to compete at Survivor Series. After the Wyatts defeated Ambrose, Ellsworth, and Kane, Daniel Bryan named Shane McMahon as Corbin's replacement at Survivor Series. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Stephanie invited both Shane and Bryan to appear on the following week's Raw to address the inter-promotional matches, which Shane and Bryan accepted. During this meeting, each commissioner and general manager touted the reasons for why their respective brand was better and eventually called out their respective male teams. In the ensuing battle, Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins of Team Raw stood tall at the end. On the final SmackDown before Survivor Series, SmackDown's male team were the guests on Edge's Cutting Edge show to address the match and their team unity. The Undertaker then came out and warned the team to win the match or face consequences. At WrestleMania XX in 2004, Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar. This was their only match against each other as both left WWE after the event; Lesnar returned to the WWE in 2012. Goldberg, who originally had no intention of ever returning to WWE, began a working relationship with the promotion again in January 2016, thanks to 2K Sports, who publishes the WWE 2K video games. On the May 30 episode of Raw, Goldberg was revealed as the pre-order bonus for the WWE 2K17 video game, which featured Lesnar on the cover. During the 2016 SummerSlam weekend at the WWE 2K event in Germany, Goldberg jokingly challenged Lesnar to a match. Lesnar and Goldberg continually traded barbs and insults against each other on social media and at WWE 2K17 press events. On October 5, Goldberg appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter with Jonathan Coachman to promote his appearance in WWE 2K17. He teased a possible return to WWE, and stated that he would want to face Lesnar if he were to return because he owed Lesnar a rematch. On the October 10 episode of Raw, Paul Heyman on behalf of Lesnar issued a challenge to Goldberg, stating that Goldberg was the one blemish on Lesnar's WWE career. On the October 17 episode, Goldberg accepted the challenge. The following week, the match was scheduled for Survivor Series. On the October 31 episode of Raw, Heyman interrupted Goldberg and teased that Lesnar was there to fight, but then Rusev came out to confront Goldberg. Goldberg attacked Rusev with a Jackhammer and Heyman with a Spear. On the November 7 episode, video packages were shown hyping the match, with the announcement that both Goldberg and Lesnar would come face-to-face the following week. On the final Raw before Survivor Series, both men addressed each other, albeit with security officers between them. Lesnar pushed some officers into Goldberg, and Goldberg cleared out the rest. Lesnar then retreated instead of staying to fight. At No Mercy, Dolph Ziggler defeated The Miz in a career vs. title match for the Intercontinental Championship. Ziggler offered The Miz a rematch for the title, but The Miz refused. On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, after successfully defending the Intercontinental Championship against Curt Hawkins, Ziggler made an open challenge to any wrestler from the Raw brand to face him for the title at Survivor Series. On the November 7 episode of Raw, Sami Zayn revealed that Mick Foley wanted him to face Ziggler for the Intercontinental title, but Stephanie preferred Rusev and scheduled a match between the two, with the winner going on to face Ziggler. Zayn defeated Rusev, earning the title match. However, his opponent changed when The Miz regained the title from Ziggler, albeit with help from Maryse, on SmackDown's 900th episode on November 15. On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Bryan revealed that since SmackDown's Intercontinental Championship would be defended against a wrestler from Raw, Foley allowed Raw's WWE Cruiserweight Champion The Brian Kendrick to defend the title against a SmackDown wrestler. Bryan chose Kalisto and revealed that if Kalisto would win the title, the entire cruiserweight division would come to SmackDown.13 On the November 14 episode of Raw, Kendrick addressed the cruiserweights, and assured them that he would defeat Kalisto and keep the division on Raw. However, all were at odds with him and Sin Cara, Kalisto's former tag team partner, stated that Kalisto would be a better champion. Kendrick won an ensuing match against Sin Cara by submission. Aftermath Results * Team SmackDown's captain, Nikki Bella, was attacked backstage before the match, rendering her unable to compete. The team's coach, Natalya, replaced her. Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * Survivor Series Category:Survivor Series Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2016 Pay-Per-View Events